LAKE CHARLES – Fresh off its most significant win of the season, the Northwestern State Lady Demons will be looking to better their 61-57 victory over UTSA last Wednesday when they visit first place and Southland Conference unbeaten McNeese State at 1 on Saturday in Burton Coliseum.
 
The game will be the first of a doubleheader between the two schools as the men's game will begin approximately 30 minutes following the women's.  The Cowgirls are the defending league champions and were selected in preseason polls to repeat this season.
 
Against UTSA, the Lady Demons (5-12, 1-3) held an opponent under 60 points for just the second time this season while picking up their first league win.
 
Trudy Armstead powered her way to her sixth double-double of the season after she scored 18 points with 10 rebounds, and Jordi James added 15 points in a game the Lady Demons fell behind by 11 in the first half before rallying for the lead for good early in the second half.
 
The Cowgirls (14-4, 4-0) have lost just once in Burton Coliseum this season, a 64-43 setback to LSU.  McNeese's other three loses have come at the hands of UCLA, No. 1 Baylor, and then-No. 9 Texas A&M.  McNeese has won five straight and is coming off a 60-36 win over Southeastern Louisiana in its last outing.
 
“McNeese is a very well coached and athletic team,” said Lady Demon head coach Jennifer Graf who is 8-5 against the Cowgirls in her coaching career.  “Obviously the twins (sisters Ashlyn and Caitlyn Baggett) is a strong force on their team but they also have some outstanding role players in (Kendra) Wells and (Candace) LaCombe.”
 
Ashlyn tops the team with 15.4 points per game while Caitlyn is averaging 14.1.  Caitlyn also tops the league in 3-point shooting with a 44 percent rate.
 
The Lady Demons have three players scoring in double-figures for the season.  James tops the team with a 13.8 average followed by Armstead at 12.8 and Jasmine Upchurch at 10.6.  Armstead also leads the squad and ranks fourth in the Southland in rebounding with a 9.0 average and in her last six games, is averaging 13.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game.
 
The Lady Demons, who are 1-6 on the road this season, leads the all-time series with the Cowgirls by a 53-18 margin.  McNeese won both meetings last season but Northwestern State has taken seven of the last 10 meetings, including both games in 2009-10.